Aloha all,
the summary of our last seven months on Maui may sound somewhat familiar. Life on Maui is always wonderful, but admittedly a bit more predictable than life on the road. I was tempted to simply recycle last year's blog post, change a few names, update the weather report, and let AI rephrase a few sentences so it wouldn't be obvious that I was plagiarizing myself.
What another 7 months over already?
I just laid down...
Sandra went back to work at Maui Brewing Company at their beautiful oceanfront location on Kaanapali Beach. It is undoubtedly the prettiest office either of us has ever worked in. Then again, my office as an Uber driver on Maui isn't exactly shabby either. I still get a kick out of the incredible variety of people I get to drive around our beautiful island. My favorite moments are when I pick up visitors from some tiny town in rural Iowa and can honestly tell them, "I've been there and I loved it!". They are usually confused or proud that their Uber driver with a German accent on Maui had even heard of their neck of the woods.
"Bring your Friends to Work Day"
at the Maui Brewing Company
My little vacation rental business continues its slow transition from "business" to "interesting hobby". Luckily, I enjoy Uber driving as a fun and flexible alternative. The only downside this year was getting sideswiped at the airport and then discovering that dealing with insurance companies and repair shops is not as fun as talking to Iowans about our road trip shenanigans.
Just one week after returning to Maui, we went scuba diving again. It was wonderful to blow bubbles underwater after a long break. As tradition dictates, when we surfaced, we looked at each other and said, "This was amazing—we should do this more often!" Having fulfilled our annual obligation to say those words, we can now safely avoid scuba diving again until next year.
We really SHOULD do this more often!
After taking a year off, I also made it back to Colorado for a ski trip. It was a somewhat abbreviated visit, but I got to reconnect with some of our Colorado friends. Besides skiing, seeing our hanai family there is a main reason for the trip. In somewhat ironic timing, Kelly, Paul & Bunt left just days after I got there on a trip of their own... to Maui out of all places! Well, at least I could rest assured that Sandra was well entertained while I was gone. I loved skiing with Cody and Trevor at Loveland. I also explored Keystone for the first time, which was a fun mountain to explore, even by myself.
Lovely Day Skiing Loveland
Snow conditions weren't exactly legendary this year, but apparently I managed to pick one of the best weeks of the season. Fortunately, there was enough snow covering the beginner and intermediate runs. The lack of snow on the terrifying double-black-diamond slopes didn't affect my skiing experience in the slightest. It's nice when your limitations align so perfectly with snow conditions.
I like my winters in two week doses
In March, Linnea and Torben came to visit us on Maui. During the first week, they experienced the Maui that appears in travel brochures: zip lining, disc golfing, whale watching, snorkeling, and even a goaltimate tournament. Pretty easy to enjoy yourself. Zip dee dee doo dah!
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| Snorkel trip on the Gemini |
Then Maui decided to show them something different.
During the second half of their visit, we were hit by back-to-back Kona storms that dumped more rain than we had seen during any two-week period since moving here nearly 30 years ago. Streets flooded, rivers and waterfalls appeared out of nowhere. On the plus side, an island that had looked alarmingly brown in February suddenly transformed into a lush, green paradise.
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| No rain, no rain forest |
To their credit, Torben and Linnea remained remarkably cheerful throughout the rain. It turns out there really is no bad weather if you have the right attitude—or if you're visiting Maui and can tell yourself it's all part of the authentic tropical island experience.
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| The Kaanapali Beachwalk after the storm |
In fact, Linnea insisted on going on yet another whale watch before they left, despite the wet forecast. It rained during most of the trip, but it turned out to be the most spectacular whale watch I've ever experienced. The whales apparently enjoy stormy weather even more than Torben and Linnea. On a typical whale watch, you're lucky to see a couple of breaches. We counted only the breaches that Torben managed to capture on video and came up with an astonishing 117!
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| Just 1 of 117 breaches on Linnea & Torben's last whale watch |
We also had several friends who have moved away from Maui come back for visits. It's always reassuring to see that we don’t lose friends just because they move away
To celebrate Uncle Tommy's 80th birthday, Missy and Rich managed to get much of the old gang back together. Tommy even played Ultimate Frisbee at age 80, which I find completely mind-boggling. Most Ultimate players retire at half that age. Frankly, many of them retire after one particularly ambitious layout catch.
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| 80's themed party for Tommy's 80th birthday |
We also escaped to Oahu twice this year. On the first trip, we enjoyed two very different joy rides:
The first was a ride on Honolulu's new "Skyline" train—a public transit system apparently designed to avoid any areas where it is actually needed. The second was a bar-hopping tour through Kaka'ako with our Oahu friends. Interestingly, both routes seemed to have been planned by people operating with remarkably similar blood-alcohol levels.
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| Bar Hopping on Oahu |
The second Oahu trip got cut short by another storm, but the one party with the old Oahu gang at Laura & Matt to celebrate Tommy's 80th (yes, again!) was well worth it!
The more-than-two-decade-old Tuesday Night tradition also continues.
Every Tuesday we still gather at the same oceanfront location on Front Street in Lahaina to watch the sunset. Jill and Bern have been every bit as welcoming as Bunt and Ann always were. Everyone is welcome, or as Bern calls it: "An open house without a house."
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| Tuesday Night: Open House sans house |
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| The Lahaina rebuilding continues... |
But the owners of homes and businesses along the shoreline are discovering that rebuilding can be a test of patience, particularly when local government agencies decide to contribute their own unique interpretation of "helping" with their sometimes absurd requirements. But just like on the national level, there is hope on the horizon. November 3rd are not just congressional in America, but also local elections here on Maui.
But before this gets political, here are some more random impressions from our seven months on Maui, sweet Maui:
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| Ute's Rocky Horror Birthday party with Eric Gilliom |
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| One of many fun golf scrambles this winter |
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| Bunt's first return visit to Maui |
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| Great music at our old beloved Royal Lahaina |
Even though we'll see them soon in Oregon,
great to see Mindy & family here on Maui
And that's the news from Lake Maui, where all of the island is beautiful, all our friends are good-looking, and most days are considerably more pleasant than average.
Aloha,
Chris & Sandra
